Warning about Ilford XP2 Super processing.

If any here are doing their own Ilford XP2 Super ( or, indeed the FUJI equivalent. made by Ilford in UK ) then do NOT give a 'pre-soak' in warm water to help bring up the temperature to 100oF, as I have had two lots of reticulation of the gelatine backing layer on both the Ilford and Fuji films. It's NOT in the emulsion layer as such, but on the backing ( shiny side) of the film -- it does NOT seem to print luckily, as yesterday I printed some in my darkroom to 16x12" and the reticulation did not show-- I was using a 'diffuser' enlarger however, the LPL C7700 Pro. When I pour in the warm developer at about 105oF, without a water pre-soak, it stabilises at 100oF and there is NO reticulation effect.

If any here are doing their own Ilford XP2 Super ( or, indeed the FUJI equivalent. made by Ilford in UK ) then do NOT give a 'pre-soak' in warm water to help bring up the temperature to 100oF, as I have had two lots of reticulation of the gelatine backing layer on both the Ilford and Fuji films. It's NOT in the emulsion layer as such, but on the backing ( shiny side) of the film -- it does NOT seem to print luckily, as yesterday I printed some in my darkroom to 16x12" and the reticulation did not show-- I was using a 'diffuser' enlarger however, the LPL C7700 Pro. When I pour in the warm developer at about 105oF, without a water pre-soak, it stabilises at 100oF and there is NO reticulation effect.

I'm not sure what you mean when you talk about warm water for the pre-soak. If you are talking about water at the processing temperature, it isn't clear to me why it would cause a problem. If you're talking about a temperature higher than that, I'm not sure why you would want to do it? (searches for puzzled smiley!)

I'm not sure what you mean when you talk about warm water for the pre-soak. If you are talking about water at the processing temperature, it isn't clear to me why it would cause a problem. If you're talking about a temperature higher than that, I'm not sure why you would want to do it? (searches for puzzled smiley!)

When I was using xp2 on a regular basis (approx 15 years ago) I stuck to the instructions & processed it at 38°C (I never got the hang of using old fashioned Fahrenheit).
I cannot remember the instructions saying any thing about pre soaking.

When I was using xp2 on a regular basis (approx 15 years ago) I stuck to the instructions & processed it at 38°C (I never got the hang of using old fashioned Fahrenheit).
I cannot remember the instructions saying any thing about pre soaking.

Yes : I tried a pre-soak at 105oF to get the tank+film up to temperature as I had read in some other 'Forums' -- but no wonder the instructions never said anything about 'pre-soaking' as that is what caused the reticulation. I sent a sample of reticulated 120 XP2 Super to Ilford and the young lady there sent me a letter all about XP2 processing and a free 35mm XP2Super film.

Yes : I tried a pre-soak at 105oF to get the tank+film up to temperature as I had read in some other 'Forums' -- but no wonder the instructions never said anything about 'pre-soaking' as that is what caused the reticulation. I sent a sample of reticulated 120 XP2 Super to Ilford and the young lady there sent me a letter all about XP2 processing and a free 35mm XP2Super film.

[quote]105 deg sounds a bit high. All films in my day were processed at 68 deg. Could this be the problem?[/quote]
XP2 is a chromogenic film that uses the C41 (colour) process at higher temperature (38C/100F) than standard b&w processing.

Quote:105 deg sounds a bit high. All films in my day were processed at 68 deg. Could this be the problem?

XP2 is a chromogenic film that uses the C41 (colour) process at higher temperature (38C/100F) than standard b&w processing.